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Portsmouth Mayor Kenny Wright to seek re-election

Posted at 4:08 PM, Feb 08, 2016
and last updated 2016-02-08 16:08:04-05

Portsmouth,Va. – After serving six years in his position, Portsmouth Mayor Kenneth Wright has announced that he will seek reelection. This comes after the mayor was arrested on felony eluding charges after a heated confrontation with Sheriff Bill Watson last month.

“I’m in it to win it,” announced Wright on his Facebook page. “I’m in my sixth year, of holding this office. My first two years was to finish the remaining term of former Mayor James Holley, and the last four years was my full term in office. I’m pleased to make this announcement and to inform our citizens, that the last six years have been more productive than the last 20 years!”

The first two years of his he finished out the remaining term of the late Mayor Jame Holley who passed away.

Mayor Wright and Sheriff Bill Watson made headlines after a rather bizarre confrontation after a city council meeting.

The two have been rivals for some time now, and tension between the two started when the sheriff’s budget was significantly cut.

Watson says he was talking to a friend when he realized there was a black Mercedes with an expired inspection sticker. It belonged to the Mayor.

The Sheriff pulled Wright over  and that’s when the confrontation started.

Wright was booked and accused of eluding the Sheriff.

During a recent council meeting, citizens expressed their disdain for what’s going on in the city currently.

“God save Portsmouth God save this city”

“There are a lot of unhappy people in Portsmouth.”

“You need to work on your image.”

The Vice Mayor, Elizabeth Psimas, called the whole episode “embarrassing and absurd.”

“I think all of this drama has caused the citizenry to pay much more attention to the actual work that each member of council is doing and how they behave and I hope it’ll be reflected in the ballot box in November,” said Psimas.

Related:

Portsmouth residents unhappy following arrest of Mayor, fine of Councilman

Portsmouth Vice Mayor calls drama in city absurd and embarrassing

Portsmouth Mayor Kenny Wright arrested on felony eluding charges

Portsmouth city councilman Bill Moody fined for Facebook post: “I will not be muzzled”